York College taking steps to improve safety after recent robbery arrest

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York College is taking steps to improve safety in an area with increased crimes against it’s students. A York College administrator said a 16-year old suspect tried to rob students on 3 separate occasions this month using a knife. Police arrested him on Wednesday, but the location where they happened is of concern to school officials.

The attempted robberies all happened in the 200 block of West Jackson Street in York. The college’s Assistant Dean of Communications Mary Dolheimer said “the Jackson Street area is the area where a lot of our off campus students do live and it is the area that kind of buffers and butts up against the city of York.”

York College senior Matthew Corkwell just started living on Jackson Street and has noticed a change. “Crime has been going on, but as far as quantity it has picked up a little bit this year. It seems like the guys that are doing this know what time students are going to be alone, when students are going on break” said Corkwell.

That’s one of the reasons why York College is taking action. “We do have enhanced coverage in the West Jackson Street area” said the Assistant Dean of Communications. The school is working with police to step up patrols in the area. They’re also working with the city to increase the amount of lights on Jackson Street, which is welcome news to students like Rebecca Culver who lives there. “It makes me feel safe knowing that they’re trying to take these precautions” said Culver.

York College is spending more than $100,000 on the new lights for Jackson Street. Construction is already underway and will continue into the summer.